Commercial Cleaning Company

Words in [brackets] are blanks you fill in with your own details when you adopt this sample in Supreme Plan AI.

Executive Summary

Spotless Commercial Cleaning is a commercial cleaning company serving offices, clinics, shops and small businesses in our city and the nearby suburbs. We clean on a regular schedule, usually in the evenings, so the space is ready when people arrive. A clean workplace affects health, impressions and morale, but many small businesses struggle with cleaners who miss visits, skip areas or change every few months. We will win clients by being dependable, careful, insured and easy to reach, with a trained team and a clear checklist. Here is what our numbers show. We expect sales of about $216,000 in Year 1, growing to about $864,300 by Year 5 as we add contracts and cleaning teams, and later an operations supervisor. We expect a loss of about $33,900 in Year 1 while we build our customer base, then a small profit of about $1,200 in Year 2 and a profit of about $35,000 in Year 3, growing to about $84,900 by Year 5. We need $95,500 in total. That covers $18,500 in startup costs (commercial cleaning equipment, opening supplies, bonding and insurance, contract templates, uniforms and advertising) and a cash cushion of about three months of bills. I am putting in $18,000 of my own money, and I am asking for $77,500. In Year 1 I will use my own vehicle to carry equipment between sites. I am Karen Martinez, the owner. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this plan, not promises.

Company Description

Spotless Commercial Cleaning will be a limited liability company (LLC) in North Carolina, owned by Karen Martinez. We will work from my home, with equipment stored in my garage and carried in my car. What we believe. Show up on schedule, clean to a checklist, respect each client's space and security and fix any problem the same day. What we offer:
- Regular office and shop cleaning (daily, several times a week or weekly). - Restrooms, kitchens, floors and windows. - Deep cleaning and floor care. - Move-in and move-out cleaning. - Day porter and special event cleaning. Licenses and insurance. Commercial cleaning needs a business license in most places. Rules for workers matter: cleaners must be properly classified as employees or contractors, paid on time and covered by workers' compensation where required, and background-checked when they work in secure spaces. Our city requires a general business license, and our state requires cleaners to be paid as employees. We carry general liability insurance and bonding, which protects clients if something is lost or damaged, and we follow chemical safety rules. Where things stand today. I have worked for a cleaning company for five years, I have cleaned two small offices on weekends and I have written a checklist.

Problem & Opportunity

Small businesses near us want a clean workplace and a cleaning company they do not have to chase. 1. Missed visits. Many cleaners skip nights or arrive late. 2. Missed areas. Without a checklist, work is uneven. 3. High turnover. Cleaners change often, and so do the keys. 4. Unclear pricing. Some companies add fees for extras. How we know people want this. Two dental offices and an insurance agency asked for regular cleaning, and a property manager said she needs a reliable company.

Products & Services

What we sell. 1. Facility cleaning contracts. Regular cleaning for a monthly fee. Our plan assumes an average of about $2,400 per contract per month in Year 1, rising to about $2,701 by Year 5. Our direct cost, which includes cleaning labor, supplies and travel, runs about $1,700 per contract per month. We expect about 90 contract months in Year 1 (about seven or eight accounts for the full year), growing to about 320 contract months a year by Year 5. Our prices. Small office, three times a week, $2,400 a month. Dental office from $2,800. Deep clean from $350. How it works for the customer:
1. A free walk-through and a written quote with a clear checklist. 2. A signed agreement with the days, times and areas. 3. A trained team that cleans to the checklist, with a sign-off sheet. 4. A monthly check-in, and any problem fixed the same day. Gross margin, explained. "Gross margin" is the share of each sale left after paying for materials and direct job costs. Our plan shows about 29% in Year 1. That money pays the owner and crew, vehicle costs, insurance and other bills.

Market Analysis

Who will hire us:
- Small offices, clinics and dental practices. - Shops, salons and restaurants (non-kitchen areas). - Churches, schools and community groups. - Property managers who need common areas cleaned. Where we will work. A service area close enough to reach all sites in an evening, starting with small offices and clinics on the east side within 15 minutes of my home. Season. Commercial cleaning is steady all year, since offices need cleaning every week. Contracts renew yearly, which gives stable income. Our plan is careful on purpose. About 90 contract months in Year 1 means about seven or eight regular accounts, which a small team can handle well.

Competitive Landscape

Other choices customers have:
1. Larger commercial cleaning companies. Allied Janitorial (a made-up name) charges about $2,500 a month for a small office; known for size, but slow to respond. 2. Independent cleaners and part-time workers. Cheaper, but less reliable and often uninsured. 3. In-house janitors. Cost more for a small business than a contract. How we will win customers: reliable service, a clear checklist, insured and bonded work, and a fast response to problems.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How people will find us. - Walk-ins and quotes for small businesses along our routes. - Relationships with property managers, real estate agents and office managers. - Asking every happy client for a testimonial and referral. - A free Google business listing and a simple website. - Bids on larger contracts, once we have a track record. Marketing budget. About $7,000 a year for marketing and bidding. Uniforms, business cards and the website are paid for from startup costs.

The first 90 days. Days 1 to 30: get insurance and bonding, buy supplies and write the cleaning checklists. Days 31 to 60: walk through 20 small offices and send written quotes. Days 61 to 90: start the first accounts, hire the first cleaner and run a quality check every week.

Operations Plan

How the business runs day to day. Contracts and crews. The owner finds clients, writes quotes, schedules teams and inspects the work. In Year 1 cleaning labor is included in the cost of each contract, with part-time cleaners hired as employees as accounts are added. We add an operations supervisor by Year 5 as the number of sites grows. Each site has a checklist, a key and access plan and a monthly inspection. Equipment. About $10,000 to start: commercial vacuums; used floor machine and scrubber; carts, mops and cleaning equipment; backpack vacuums; tablet and scheduling software; safety signs and protective gear. We set aside about $2,000 to $3,000 a year for repairs and replacements. Upkeep. Equipment cleaned and serviced regularly, supplies restocked weekly and checklists updated with each client. Safety. Safe handling of chemicals (never mixed), wet floor signs, proper lifting, protective gear and training for every cleaner. Keys and alarm codes are handled with care. Running costs in Year 1: cleaning supplies and equipment about $12,000, bonding and insurance about $10,000, marketing and bidding about $7,000. Scheduling and billing. A scheduling and invoicing app on my phone, with clients billed monthly by invoice.

Risks and how we plan for them:
- Losing a large contract. We spread sales across many buildings and keep every client updated on quality checks.
- Staff turnover. We pay fairly, train every cleaner and cross-train supervisors.
- Injuries and damage. We carry general liability, bonding and workers' compensation as required and train on safe chemical use.
- Late-paying clients. We invoice monthly, use written agreements and pause service after serious delays.
- Supplies and labor costs. We review pricing each year and build raises into quotes.

Management & Organization

Who runs the business. Karen Martinez, owner. As owner I will find clients, quote and sign contracts, schedule and train cleaners, inspect work and handle the money side of the business. I plan to pay myself $56,000 a year in salary in Year 1. Crew. Operations supervisors at about $42,000 a year each (or part-time pay): none in Year 1, none in Year 2, none in Year 3, none in Year 4 and one in Year 5. People who will help us: a bookkeeper or tax preparer, an insurance agent, and a free mentor from SCORE or the Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Victor Singh serves as a key volunteer advisor.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals and when we plan to reach them. - Before starting: register the business, get insurance and bonding, buy equipment and supplies, and sign the first contracts. Target start: February 2027. - First year: reach about 90 contract months of regular cleaning, for about $216,000 in sales. - Year 2: add accounts and cleaning teams, about $341,100 in sales, and a profit of about $1,200. - Years 3 to 5: grow to one operations supervisors and about $864,300 in sales by Year 5. Growth depends on hiring good people and winning the work, so treat the later years as goals, not promises. What we check every week: visits completed, inspections passed, complaints, labor and supply costs, and cash in the bank.

What the plan's numbers say. Year 1: sales about $216,000, loss about $33,900; Year 2: sales about $341,100, profit about $1,200; Year 3: sales about $493,900, profit about $35,000; Year 4: sales about $655,500, profit about $71,000; Year 5: sales about $864,300, profit about $84,900. The lowest year-end cash is about $2,300.

How we will keep score. Every month we compare real sales to the plan, check the cash in the bank, review the direct cost of each job or product, and look at what customers say. If sales are behind plan for two months in a row, we slow spending and delay hiring until the numbers catch up.

Funding Request

How much we need and how we will use it. Total needed: $95,500. This number comes from the Funding Need Calculator in this plan. It adds up: - Startup costs of $18,500, listed item by item in the Startup Costs section (about $10,000 for vacuums, a floor machine, carts and safety gear, $1,500 for opening chemicals and supplies, $300 for the business license, $4,000 for the first insurance and bonding payments, $900 for contract templates, business setup and bookkeeping, and $1,800 for uniforms, business cards and a website). - A cash cushion of about $77,000: the deepest cash dip in the early months plus about three months of bills, so slow weeks do not put the business at risk. Lenders call this "working capital." - Together that comes to about $95,500 (rounded up to the nearest $500), which is the total we are planning for. Where the money comes from: - My own money: $18,000. - Amount requested: $77,500. Kind of funding we are looking for: an SBA 7(a) loan through a local bank or community lender. How we will pay it back. We expect a loss of about $33,900 in Year 1 while we build our customer base, then a small profit of about $1,200 in Year 2 and a profit of about $35,000 in Year 3, growing to about $84,900 by Year 5. With this funding, the business has money in the bank every year of the plan. The loan is planned at 12.75% interest over 10 years, the most the SBA allows for a loan this size, so payments of about $1,146 a month are already included in our cash flow. What we are offering the lender: our equipment and my personal guarantee A smaller first step, if needed. If we cannot raise the full amount right away, we can start smaller and grow into this plan: - Phase 1: start by cleaning one or two small offices on evenings and weekends with your own equipment, while keeping your current job. Startup can be under $1,500. - Phase 2: once you have more accounts than you can handle part-time, hire part-time cleaners, buy commercial equipment and follow this plan. To plan the smaller start, make a copy of this plan (use Duplicate) and lower the numbers to match. All numbers in this plan are estimates. We will update them as real results come in.

What if sales are slower? We also tested a cautious case where sales come in 20 percent lower every year. In that case the plan shows a loss of about $48,500 in Year 1, a profit of about $11,300 in Year 3 and the lowest year-end cash is below zero, by about $30,200. Cash would run short in that case, so we would cut costs early, delay hiring and talk to the lender before it happens.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this plan:

- Your resume (one page is fine) and any licenses or certificates. - A personal financial statement (a list of what you own and what you owe; lenders usually provide a form). - Business registration papers and your EIN (your business tax number from the IRS, free at irs.gov). - Proof of insurance, or a quote. - Proof of bonding and insurance, or quotes. - A sample contract and cleaning checklist. - A list of current clients and references, if you have them. If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue. The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Facility Cleaning Contracts (billed monthly): about $2,400 per contract month in Year 1, rising to $2,701; about $1,700 per contract month in direct costs; about 90 contract months in Year 1, growing to 320. - Owner salary: $56,000 a year. Crew: $42,000 a year each, from none in Year 1 to one in Year 5. - Other yearly costs in Year 1: cleaning supplies and equipment about $12,000, bonding and insurance about $10,000, marketing and bidding about $7,000. - Tax rate: 21%. - Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and research.

Plain words used in this plan:
- Janitorial: regular cleaning of offices and other commercial buildings.
- Bonding: insurance that protects clients if an employee steals.
- Walk-through: visiting a building to measure and price the work.
- Quality check: a supervisor's inspection against the checklist.
- Contract: a written agreement for regular service at a set price.

Startup Costs